Born of Shadow (RotS Rewrite) - C24: Take-Over

[Termonaptir]

No, I'm not mad at all. I'm reading the beginning of this, and so far - it's awesome! Can't wait to read the next.

[Phoenixan]

Alright. XD And thanks! I'm enjoying your story too.

[Limely]

Really enjoyable. I love how you portray characters, and your writing style in general. You create excellent atmospheres.

Looking forward to the next chapter. :3

[Holy Crap]

i know huh. it's really good. but i hope people start finishing up these fanfics, ot i'll get confused and have no idead what goes with what story.

[Termonaptir]

Okay, I've read the first few chapters... This... is... amazing... I love the way you use your adjectives - that makes it yet even more enjoyable. I'm probably gonna read the next chapters later on. Anyways, I'm very much liking this so far.

[Phoenixan]

Thanks guys. Your comments really mean a lot to me.

I know I haven't updated this topic in a long time, and I actually had chapter 19 floating around online for quite a long time. I realized that I probably won't update this on RZ anymore, since it just keeps getting deleted. -_-; But I will continue to post chapters here on the Pirate Community.

Without further ado, in case you don't check my devart for FF.Net.

Chapter 19: Mobilization

The day after Lady Knaaren's prize was presented to her, both armies were about ready to depart from the desert. Most of the trail would have to be followed over land rather than air. As they passed over areas of concentrated magical energy, navigational equipment often failed, forcing their planes and helicopters to crash into the ground.

Alucian always wondered how the robot pirates managed to infiltrate the Fairy Council. If he knew their secret, he could be standing in the Dark Tower right now.

He observed as his foot soldiers and the lower ranks of the knaaren army loaded supplies into Rintu's giant tanks and convoy vehicles. Surveyors and engineers were already sent ahead to see what they could do to offer them a faster mode of transportation in the future. Alucian proposed a railroad, but they'd have to find all the materials necessary as they made their way for the tower.

Drums played by the knaaren sounded a steady beat as the troops of either species continuously loaded their supplies, turned back for more, and then returned to the vehicles. Some of the higher ranking gunmen and knaaren sent to train with the new firearms were camped out around the back doorways of the knaaren tunnels, practice shooting with paper targets and dummies. The knaaren had larger firearms, specially built for their physical build. Their rifles used a larger type of ammunition, a type that the rays' rifles could only hold three of at a time, since Rintu's arms were adaptable for various shell sizes. The knaaren could have ten shells loaded into their weapons at once.

Out the back, there was a closer view of a large temple-like structure. It was in the shape of a giant upturned cone. The knaaren called it a place of no entry without any given reason. Stone pathways and bridges, big enough for the rays but not for the knaaren, led straight to the colossal structure.

Alucian secretly wished to join the others at the shooting range, but he had to oversee the operation and make sure they had everything they needed. He had a list with him, and he marked the list of supplies off as they were loaded into the vehicles. He figured that he will get plenty of shooting in later on anyway.

Zadian stood by himself, sitting upon one of the bones that stuck out of the red sands. This is exactly what everyone else wanted. All-out war with the Fairy Council, and the expansion of Rintu's borders. Still, he felt as if they were all in danger. They were going to get punished for this, one way or another.

Alucian didn't break any laws that he could see. Even with Phoenixan's disappearance, nothing seemed to be wrong or out of place. Everything was going according to plan, smooth as silk, and that was all Zadian was supposed to be here for, but he still felt that he had to do something to stop his country from stepping out too far. That is, if there was anything he could do at all.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Betilla sat up in bed within the sleeping chambers of the Fairy Council. In her dreams, she saw rays and knaaren working side-by-side and marching toward something to the East of both of their lands. They were heading slowly but surely toward the fairies' home, here. She could also feel that something was wrong – very wrong. To her, it was that same feeling a person would get after checking their person to find that something important they were carrying was now missing.

She rushed down one of the halls, hurrying toward the Heart of the World. Betilla had to be sure that everything here was okay. Was it damaged again? Were the intruders here now, or was the feeling she was getting from something else?

The portions of the stone walls before her split and opened, allowing passage into the large circular room. The ceiling twinkled, mimicking a starry sky on a clear day. Magical energy from the large sphere below flowed upward toward the ceiling, lighting up the floor and Betilla's face with a rainbow of color. Everything was as it should be, and it hasn't been touched yet.

Betilla approached the glowing sphere slowly. Her gold and green slippers slid against the seashell patterned marble floor, and the quiet sounds softly echoed from the pillars and walls in the circular room. The echoes mixed in with the magical whirling and twirling of the Heart.

“Betilla?” a soft female voice inquired.

She responded to the voice, trying to calm down. “You felt it too?”

“Uh huh,” the voice responded simply as the female stepped out from the shadowy edges of the chamber. She was another limbless creature, like Betilla, only she carried more of Rayman's sort of features, such as a big nose and large eyes to match. Her hair shimmered and moved in patterns of blue and purple as she looked toward Betilla with calm, swirling blue and green eyes. She wore a tight teal-colored body suit with a flower pattern marked on the front in pale purple. A light yellow shall was tied around where her neck would be, which was fastened there by a pale pink gem with a white upside-down tulip pattern marked on the surface. Her white and pastel purple sneakers squeaked slightly on the marble floor as she walked. “What does it all mean?”

“I think we lost someone,” Betilla thought aloud sadly, “and something else worthy of our concern is happening right now.”

“Like what?” the female asked, sounding evermore anxious.

“Before Rayman left, Ly and myself felt an ever-growing shadowy presence. We could never open the Hall of Doors for them because of it. We feared it'd grow even faster and spread wider if we did open the portals,” Betilla explained before getting to the meat of her worries. “I don't think Rayman is coming back.”

The girl's eyes widened as she stared in disbelief. Why would she even think of a thing like that? She's always had limitless faith in Rayman.

“Lilly, as the Grand Minimus' advisor, I think you should tell him about the things we've seen. I'm sure there are others that have seen it too. We can't let another enemy catch us off guard. If Rayman isn't around to help us now, we'll find to figure out our own ways of stopping them from getting to the Heart and the many other targets we watch over.”

Lilly quickly took off, rushing back through the doorway she entered. Upon reaching the entryway to his room and pushing the ornate carved wood door, she yelled, “Grand Minimus!”

The old teensie, who even wore his crown in bed, leaped in fright and fell to the floor. He struggled to throw the soft red and green sheets that came with him as he toppled off from himself as he screamed, “Where's the fire! WHERE'S THE FIRE!?”

“Betilla needs to speak with you in the throne room,” Lilly explained to him quickly.

“The Heart of the World is on fire?!” Grand Minimus exclaimed, seeming evermore panicked.

“No, Highness. Betilla just needs to speak with you urgently.” Lilly stepped back out from the Grand Minimus' chamber so that he could leave quickly. She then stepped over to a window at the end of the corridor.

Outside, the forest was bright with light given from the red lums and magical lights hung upon stone walls and from trees to illuminate it further. The sky was, for the most part, clear. The stars and two moons were proudly showing themselves.

Rayman was somewhere beyond those trees. He was alive, even if not in the condition to fight. Rayman, no, this can't be.

Grand Minimus decided to not even bother to get dressed. He left his room still wearing his red silk night gown. He turned down the hall toward the circular room that housed the Heart, grubling to himself.

After waiting several minutes, when Grand Minimus disappeared down the hall, Lilly reluctantly took off after him. She returned to the thrown room to hear Grand Minimus' tiny anxious voice and Betilla's relatively calm one.

“The knaaren? Why would they come out of their tunnels now?”

“This is why I think Rayman has been defeated. They were touting some kind of prize. You know very well about their hatred for him after he defeated Reflux, the warrior. On the other hand, it could just be a vision with symbolism, but I don't understand what an army of rays and knaaren would otherwise represent. Our dreams are complicated like that.”

“Well, if he is truly gone, what can we do about it?”

“I believe that there might have been a shift in alliances somewhere. Maybe we have allies fighting for us somewhere that we don't know about. If the Heart is to ever come under fire however, the Shadow Keeper was defeated by a teensie warrior after all. Maybe one will step out from among our own this time.”

“Maybe it is time for a new warrior to step forward. Unfortunately, I don't see any traces of the great defender from my people now. I could be wrong, but that is one thing you don't ever forget. I can only hope that even with all four stones, they won't make it to that tower.”

[Holy Crap]

Nice. I look forward to more. Although it took me a while to remember what was happening, it's been so long.

[Beebop]

Just reread it to remind yourself.

[Phoenixan]

I didn't make it in time for the record, but expect another chapter to come up today. It's a pretty long one. XD

*edit*

Well, it's finally here! Chapter 20!


Chapter 20: Too Far

Phoenixan licked traces of lemon jelly from his lips as he and Pyra moved onward. The sounds of the drums never ceased, but the sounds of birds and a few other creatures became mixed in as they hiked down the mountain range.

The more Phoenixan thought about the drums, the more he wondered about their source. At the start of their journey together, it seemed as though they were escaping the sound; now instead, it seemed that the drums were following them. An army was marching.

He had thoughts about turning away from them, and he'd avoid chancing another encounter with Alucian, but something just didn't seem right about choosing that path now. He had to face Alucian again. It wasn't for the usual thirst for revenge. Instead, it just seemed like the right thing to do. Quite possibly, he could throw a wrench in Alucian's machine and put the brake on what he started. This was their chance to make it ahead of them, if possible.

“I don't think those assholes truly know what they're talking about,” Phoenixan outburst, talking of the fighters they encountered, “but I guess that one could have some kind of point. 'Guardian' or no, I guess I do know where to go. And I know what the right thing could be. I have to stop what I started.” He stalled and looked down to Pyra; he didn't want to just jump right into something and risk her life. This was his fight, not hers. He found that she was looking back to him. After a long pause, he finally asked, sounding at least largely concerned, “Are you okay with that? You don't have to come with me if you don't want to.”

Still staring into his ruby eyes, Pyra tried to smile, and she nodded slowly. She was going to continue to follow him and help him, no matter where their path would take them. She pledged to herself that she wouldn't leave him no matter how grave things became from the moment he freed her from her prison.

Phoenixan guessed that he had to accept that she would always be there for him. Of course, he had no problem with it himself, but he wouldn't be able to bare seeing her die before his eyes if they were ever to end up in battle. Did she even know how to defend herself in such a case? She was certainly able to help and protect him, or at least heal him, but would he be able to protect her?

The dark cloud in his head suddenly interrupted his thoughts. You should have just killed her yourself and instead of just waiting for others to do it for you, it laughed sinisterly.

Hearing it speak again now felt like a sharp pain in the back of his skull. It was no longer soothing, comforting, or driving. He just wanted it to go away. Phoenixan squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head violently in one sudden jolt, trying to shake it off.

Pyra reached up and gently touched the side of his face and where his shoulder would be. “Are you alright!?” she asked, frightened. It seemed like he was having a seizure.

He attempted to regain his composure. “Yeah,” he struggled to answer, “I'm fine.” Looking back toward the mountain range, listening to the sound of the beating drums, he added, “I guess we better keep moving if we want to get anywhere with this.”

He took Pyra's hand from his shoulder, and she slowly let her other hand go from his face. He was still so warm, and somehow, it was a comfort being close to him, despite how unstable he could become at times.

“If you're sure,” Pyra said, speaking in her usual soft tone.

Phoenixan simply nodded in reply, and his feet shifted, and they began to move together again. The more he heard her voice, the more it reminded him of his mother's all those years ago. Did that vision he saw before he broke into the snowy cave mean anything, or was it just his own head messing with him again? There was a several minute delay before he reassured her, “Yeah, I'm very sure. I'll be okay.”

The air was still brisk. Only pine trees surrounded them still. Their path wound between them. Phoenixan felt only guided by his nose. The elevation continued to drop. It wasn't so hard scaling down the mountain. Maybe it would give them the ease necessary to beat Alucian's army to wherever they were headed.

Abruptly, the forest turned into a clearing. Before them was a giant frozen lake, surrounded by more trees, rock walls, and snowy hills. Suddenly, with no trees in the way, dark clouds could be seen, billowing in the distance, impeding on the clear blue sky. On the other side of the lake, rock walls, and a few different types of trees were visible. A few partially frozen waterfalls, streams, and rivers spilled out from the shallowest portions of the basin, heading in between the rock walls. It was wider than it was long, but it would still be quite a trip across.

Phoenixan knew that the elevation would continue to drop beyond the basin, and snow and ice wouldn't be as prevalent. In fact, it'd turn into the likes of a very green forest, full of a variety of different species of all types, but that, he didn't fully know of. He really had no clue what waited for them on the other side of the frozen lake, or where the army was going beyond that way. He also had no idea how deep the lake was, or what was waiting for them underneath.

He stepped up to the lake's shores, up to the edge of the ice, and stalled. There was a small secret he kept from Pyra, and just about everyone else: he was aquaphobic. He couldn't stand to be near any large body of water, even in its frozen state. There was always something sinister about it. He especially felt that way after the war Rintu had with the Swamplands. Already, he was thinking about if there was another way other than this across, but looking left and right, he knew it wouldn't be so.

He felt Pyra grip his hand tightly as she spoke to him softly, as though she knew exactly what was on his mind. “Go ahead. It'll be okay.” When he looked to her face, she was smiling, trying to comfort him more. Something still just seemed wrong, but they had to keep going, and this was the only way to get to wherever they were headed before Alucian.

Phoenixan shifted, preparing to step onto the ice as he nodded to her. “Okay.” He closed his eyes and lifted his left foot. Then, he let it fall into the frozen surface.

CRUNCH! The sound echoed off the trees, and even carried to and back from the rocks from the other edges of the lake. Phoenixan looked down. The ice didn't shift, break, or crack, but rather, the coating of snow on top was compacted under his weight.

Pyra then stepped onto the ice with both feet, moving to guide him across. She pulled on Phoenixan's hand lightly, slowly helping him along on the icy surface as they continued to slowly walk across. He was still very uneasy, and just the thought of what was beneath them wanted him to upchuck his breakfast. It wasn't only the water, but something evil was waiting for them. He just knew it, somehow.

Pyra could feel it too, but she didn't want to reveal it to Phoenixan now. Especially since he seemed more afraid than she's ever been before right now, and she wanted to keep the same brave face that he held all the time before.

Beneath the lake's surface, there was a black presence, much like the dark cloud that lived within Phoenixan's head. Minions of the Shadow Keeper were scatted throughout the world, just waiting for his return. They usually kept themselves hidden, only coming out to feast on smaller creatures or to defend themselves when they felt threatened. Upon the Shadow Keeper's return, they would be drawn toward him, but right now, they were lost and without direction. The only thing they could do was wait. The Shadow Keeper was never able to protect Phoenixan from them, even when he spoke through his mind. The only thing he could do was give him the tools for their destruction. Even then, things were still difficult for the stronger ones, and for its presence to be this prevalent, whatever waited was most likely one of the strongest beasts of all.

He wondered if he still had those powers now. He probably did, even with the anger and resentment he now held toward the shadowed one. Maybe it was a tool he could still use?

They were now one-third of the way across the lake. Phoenixan gripped Pyra's hand a little tighter in return as fear continued to grip him. He didn't like the feeling of being so far away from land. Looking around them and seeing the now distant trees and rocks on all sides, he felt so isolated. His feet felt like two blocks of lead, and he almost couldn't stand to move forward, but he had to continue to push anyway. He allowed Pyra to lead him on.

He couldn't help but think about if the ice broke. What would they do if something came from either the land or underwater and cracked the frozen surface? He hardly knew how to swim either, and actually, he knew that the cold water would drain their energy easily. Neither of them would survive long. His fears seemingly came true when he felt vibrations through the souls of his boots.

Pyra felt it too. Something beneath them tapped against the thick icy layer of the lake, trying to find a thin spot to break through.

It could feel the presence of those above, just as they could feel it.

“Hold up for a moment!” Phoenixan shouted suddenly as he was frozen in place. The small vibrations under the ice continued, but nothing happened yet. They were now half-way across the lake, completely isolated. “Do you feel that? We shouldn't have come here.”

Pyra stopped alongside him, still holding his hand. She was almost as worried as he was, but she tried to comfort him to keep him going. After nodding to him in reply she said to him, “We'll make it. We'll be okay. It won't get to us yet. Let's keep going. Do think that if we go slower..?”

Phoenixan agreed, thinking that maybe if they reduced the noise they made, the harder it would be for the creature to track them. Although, it was easier said than done, since visions of cracking ice and sinking in icy water gripped him. He was tempted to just take a break for it and run for shore, but the creature beneath them would be able to intercept them at any point, no matter how quickly they ran. If it attacked them, and he fell through, he would be defenseless if he had to depend upon his fire powers, which didn't work quite so well underwater. If he still had the abilities the Shadow Keeper gave to him, he knew that there would be some kind of consequence for using them again. There would certainly be some kind of punishment for using them against his own minions without his permission.

Continuously gripping each other's hands, they moved silently and carefully forward. They lifted their feet slowly before swinging their feet slightly and touching their souls back in the snow as silently as possible. They carefully applied pressure on that foot before doing the same with the next. It felt a little awkward walking this way, and Phoenixan worried about slipping on the ice.

The icy surface of the lake actually wasn't that slippery for the most part, due to snow that covered its surface. There were some slick portions, and they'd definitely continue sliding along if they got some momentum going, but it wasn't actually that bad.

The beast below could still feel the presence of those above. It pushed a little harder against the thick ice.

Phoenixan felt the ice move under his boots. The continued feeling of isolation gripped him more. He had to get to land. It wasn't that far away now. They just had to run. He didn't care if it'd still find them or not now. He just wanted to get off of the ice. The water was going to swallow them up.

Without warning, he took off running. Pyra was suddenly pulled behind him with a squeal. She tried to keep up with him to avoid losing control.

With an explosive CRACK, chunks of ice flew upwards behind them. The dark creature in the water finally find a thinner place to break through. A giant black tentacle reached out from the thick icy surface.

Breaks in the ice spread across the surface of the lake. Phoenixan's nightmares were coming true.

Panicking, Phoenixan yelled out, “Do you think your wings can carry us both out of here?!” He only half-expected an answer. He already guessed her body wouldn't be able to take that kind of stress.

“I don't think-!” she started.

Another black tentacle exploded out from the water, using the many cracks in the surface to pry open another section. Large portions of ice flew in their direction.

Phoenixan ducked to avoid the flying frozen blocks. He was still tightly holding Pyra's hand, so when he moved, she was pulled down with him. Not expecting this, Pyra fell forward, and her boots lost grip on the surface. In turn, Phoenixan was pulled down further. He slipped and grunted has his side hit the side of the icy surface hard.

More of the lake's ice broke and cracked apart around them. It wasn't long until Phoenixan found that they were on a floating, isolated chunk of ice in the cold water, and they were sliding toward the edge. He flattened his boots against the ice, trying to get himself to stop.

When he felt his boots grinding against the snow and ice, slowly stopping him, he yelled out to Pyra as he tried to pull her back to keep her from sliding off, “Hold on!” He clinched his left hand into a fist, causing the three silver spikes on the back of his hand to extend out before slamming them into the ice for added security. She was pulled to a complete stop near the edge before she fell into the freezing water.

The creature in the lake was still determined to get to the trespassers. Before either Phoenixan or Pyra saw it coming, the floating ice block they now held onto for dear life was turned over. Phoenixan was thrown through the air, and Pyra was taken and pulled underwater.

She was no longer there, holding his hand. Phoenixan found himself alone now. “Pyra!” Gravity took him as he fell back down to the earth. His back slammed into another floating ice block, closer to the shoreline.

He struggled to stand up again without slipping. His back ached from the impact, screaming at him for relief. When he finally stood up again, he looked over the freely flowing cold water, that previously hid under the ice. Pyra was under there, somewhere. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if she was already dead. He looked down to notice bubbles float up from below.

“I can't do this,” he thought aloud, but he had to save her again somehow. He couldn't let it end this way.

Forcefully, he took in a deep breath and dived into the ice-cold water. It was so frigid, he was almost unable to move from a state of shock. He continued to force himself to move, and she swam down, into the mass of waving black tentacles – one of which still held onto Pyra.

You're both going to die now. You shouldn't have bothered, the dark cloud in the back of his mind teased.

He gritted his teeth, and his eyes turned black with anger. He was sick of the Shadow Keeper's comments. His joints were cold, and his skin felt swollen. He forced his right hand out with bent fingers as he found the creature's connection between the world of the living and the other side.

All living things had this connection, and with the shadowed one's abilities, he was able to see them and cut them or constrict them. Phoenixan viewed them as being a long umbilical cord, supplying life blood to keep one alive. They appeared like glowing white or purple strings or ropes that soared into the heavens. The strings of some were thicker and tougher to destroy than others.

What do you think you're doing? the Shadow Keeper asked.

Phoenixan tried to block it out and concentrate on the beast's thick umbilical cord. He had to chew it, strangle it, knot it, claw at it – whatever it took to get it to let Pyra go. Even though it was something that didn't exist in the physical world, he could feel it in his hands as he tried to cut off the dark creature's life support. He could feel it's pain and fear. It was only trying to defend itself while it waited for the Shadow Keeper's return. Tentacles waved around Phoenixan as it felt the sharp pains of its life force being disconnected from the other side.

The cold water was sapping Phoenixan's strength. He had to ignore it all and continue to concentrate on just that beast's rope. It took so much concentration. Anything he allowed to disrupt him would destroy everything he worked for, as what happened with Rayman that fateful day when he was hit with that bullet.

“Let her go and you will live!” Phoenixan yelled out into the creature's mind as he continued to squeeze its umbilical cord.

It didn't listen. It didn't let her go. It just wanted to have something to eat so it could survive. It needed more than just the tiny fish that inhabited this lake. It just wanted to destroy anyone that came near, in case they were a threat.

Phoenixan tightened his grip further, struggling to starve the beast to death. He dug his fingertips into the smooth, slimy, purple rope. It had to give out at one point, whether it be at death or near-death, but he had to make sure that that happened before his own body surrendered to the icy waters.

A squeal echoed through the cold water as the beast was hurt further. It was like the most irritating, ear-drum-breaking noise ever possible. Phoenixan could still feel its agony. It was dying, but refusing to surrender to his will. With a sudden clinching of his fist, the rope was broken, and the beast was cut off from the living world. It disappeared with the rope, leaving just a lifeless black form at the bottom of the lake.

Now you've gone too far, the Shadow Keeper said. You've used the powers I've given to you against me. You knew it was wrong, but you went ahead and it it anyway. It's time for me to take back what was mine to begin with.

Phoenixan accepted his choice. He saved Pyra's life, or at least, he thought he did. He only hoped that she flew out of here and saved her own life from the ravages of cold instead of coming back for him. He was finished now. There was nothing to be saved.

The world turned dark. He couldn't see anything anymore. He let himself surrender to the lake and the Shadow Keeper.

[Holy Crap]

Oh no!
good as always!

[Phoenixan]

Turns out I forgot to post chapter 21 here as well. Sorry.


Born of Shadow
Chapter 21: Light Intervention

Born of Fear: To a mother that feared the consequences of having another child.
Born of Pain: To a father that physically and emotionally hurt the ones he loved.
Born of Shadow: To a land ruled by a Dark leader with a thirst for power.

Life in Fear: From being afraid of loving anyone, because of all those he's hurt before.
Life in Pain: From always suffering the afflictions of others due to an inability to move on.
Life in Shadow: From seeking revenge and becoming Dark himself.

Death by Fear: By being left behind by his company, all of whom feared his magic.
Death by Pain: By being hurt by who he once considered his closest friend.
Death by Shadow: By the hand of the I, the Shadow Keeper, for treason.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Phoenixan wasn't sure where he was. This didn't feel like the same place he was before all those years ago after dying by Zaroff's hand. He couldn't feel cold or warmth. His vision was black. The only thing he could hear was the chant that ushered in his final demise, repeating over and over in the back of his skull.

I know you're still breathing.

The Shadow Keeper's voice was first and foremost in his mind. His chant continued, even as he spoke these words.

You're a traitor. Sound familiar? You said it often. You worked for my side all this time, even defending your choice to fight for me to the extent of your life, only to turn against me now. Why is that?

Phoenixan's own umbilical cord was being chewed away. He could feel the Shadow Keeper's fingers there. His long, sharp fingernails were like claws, and the sharp cuts made upon his tether radiated out to all parts of his body. It felt as though his entire body was passing through a meat grinder. It felt on the same level as Zaroff's own devices, though, this was worse: the Shadow Keeper was still going to be able to get to him, even after he's passed through to the other side.

It was all his fault for starting this. He doomed the world. He deserved it.

He tried to scream in pain, but nothing came out. All he could hear still was the chant that played over and over in his head. His skin still burned; it was being torn off of him layer by layer. His vision was still dark, and he couldn't tell where he was, or where he was going, and he was afraid of how it would all continue even after he was gone.

Out of the dark, another voice came. It was unlike the Shadow Keeper's; this voice was bright and full of hope. He couldn't tell what it said, or who it even came from, but it was here to fight for him.

The light fought with the Shadow Keeper's sharp claws, trying to keep him from cutting away his tether. The Shadow Keeper made an attempt to continue to cut him away from his lifeline.

The pain was still unbearable. The darkness was still there, trying to tear him apart as the light fought to rescue him.

Suddenly, there was a sensation of free fall, and the pain disappeared. Was this what how it felt when you were cut off, or was this the same exact thing that happened to him when he came back to the living world that day, so many years ago?

Phoenixan's vision slowly began to clear. His sight was blurry at first, but he was able to finally place where he was. He was in the living world again. The earth below him was dusty and rocky. The air was so cold. Pyra's face and warm hands were there on his chest. He was safe. She was safe – just what he fought the beast for to begin with.

Somehow, she had managed to dry the blanket he had given to her and the coat he had taken for himself. This time, he had the blanket wrapped around his naked body. She didn't seem to be wearing anything under the coat either, which she had buttoned up to cover her. Pyra was shorter than he was, so the coat covered more of her than it would him.

Pyra had her eyes closed, but when Phoenixan stirred and she realized that he was awake, she wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace.

“Did you do that?” Phoenixan asked her, speaking slowly because it hurt to speak. His flesh still felt swollen from the cold water.

She didn't answer, and she didn't have to. He knew that she must have had something to do with that light that interrupted the Shadow Keeper. She laid down on top of him, resting her head on his chest once more, and he held her lower back with his ungloved right hand.

There was a dim orange glow behind her. Smoke wafted up from a fire she somehow managed to create without him. The scent of burning sulfur was mixed in. As his eyesight improved further, he could see the rest of their clothing and their boots set out on the ground next to the fire pit. They were inside yet another cavern, or a tunnel rather, near the mouth. It wasn't dug out, but rather formed over the course of time's savage treatment toward the earth.

Outside, rain was pouring heavily from above, disturbing the banks of collected snow. It was dark, with not even the Twin Sisters to pierce the black sky.

Pyra was asleep, but her company made him feel warm again. Without her there, his life would feel incredibly empty, and his mind would be barren if she wasn't there to fill the gaping hole the Shadow Keeper had left behind.

Slowly, feeling her warmth all over, he drifted off into a deep, uninterrupted, sleep.

Dreams only came near the end of his slumber, in what only seemed to be a few seconds. All he could catch was a glimpse of a grassy field he was standing in, and a tower in the distance with the Twin Brothers behind it. The tower's shadow stretched across the field and ended where he stood. The scent of wet grass and flowering plants filled his nostrils, and then it was gone.

Phoenixan's eyes shot open. He felt like he hadn't slept for anymore than five minutes.

Pyra wasn't laying on top of him anymore. She was instead by the still-burning fire, cooking fish that she skewered upon a couple of sticks. The fish's smell filled the air, overpowering the strange brimstone scent coming from the rock and the wet ground outside. He found the smell and taste of fish to be almost sickening, but it was something he'd just have to bear with this time.

He could still hear the rain, but the sky seemed to be a little brighter.

Phoenixan rubbed his scratchy eyes and slowly sat up with the blanket still over him. His skin felt a little better; at least it wasn't swollen anymore. His back did ache, but it was most-likely just from sleeping on the ground. “I'm not a big fan of fish, but I'll do my best,” he said to Pyra.

Pyra still had the coat buttoned up over her. The rest of their clothes seemed to be dried out by now, and they were moved a little further from the fire, toward one of the walls of the tunnel. “Me neither,” she confessed with a soft voice and smile.

“A beggar will always have to settle or starve, I guess.” Where's our delivery men now? Phoenixan thought bitterly as he spoke. His thoughts felt clearer in his own mind without the shadow there. He slowly sat up, gripping the blanket around him with his left hand.

When she handed him his share of two fish, and he took the offering in his right hand, Pyra admitted, in her still shy and quiet manner, “They actually came up out of the water with you, inside your coat.”

“I guess I make pretty good bait then. I should take dips in lakes more often,” Phoenixan joked.

After a brief moment, Pyra looked down to his chest and asked in her usual shy and soft manner, “Are you going to be able to fix it?”

Phoenixan didn't have any feeling there. He wouldn't have even been able to tell if his hand was completely gone, but he did feel his blanket tighten around his body when he intended to grip the fabric around him, so he figured all was well.

When he looked down, all of the fingers besides his index were smashed. He couldn't move any of the others at all. The thumb seemed to be fine, even though the end was also partially dented. Two of the three retractable spikes were torn out, along with some of the surface metal, exposing some of the sensitive gold circuitry underneath. Only partially remembering what exactly happened, he assumed that the spikes must have come off when he was flung from the floating ice.

“I can't fix it myself, but-” Phoenixan took a deep breath and wondered what he could do, deciding in the end that there wasn't really anything he could try to fix it. “Only chips and metal, I guess.” He then looked up to Pyra and grinned, despite still being at least slightly bothered in the back of his mind. The technicians back home weren't going to do anything for him now. Well, it wasn't home anymore. He'd have to find someone else to help him if he wanted it fixed.

While Pyra nibbled on her fish, being careful of bones, Phoenixan looked down and just wanted his own gone. He the skewer up, sniffing the fish and nearly gagging in the process.

“You don't have to if you can't stomach it, Phoenixan.” She looked to him and smiled once more.

“If you're sure,” he replied, throwing the stick he held into the fire. His stomach growled with hunger, but it wasn't going to help if he was just going to upchuck his food.

Pyra followed suit after taking a couple more bites from her own fish. She then gathered up her own and Phoenixan's clothing, handing a pile to him. “Turn around so you can have your coat back,” Pyra requested with a shy smile.

Phoenixan was glad that she at least didn't take offense to his taste in food. “Sure.” He turned around, facing the outside. He could see part of the lake, though he didn't really care to see it again. “Looks like we're going to have to get wet again anyway,” he noted, observing the still-falling rain. He cursed under his breath, saying something about how he wished the rain gods would burn in a tragic accident involving aircraft fuel.

Pyra was at first shocked by hearing his words, mostly due to how harsh they were, only to find herself chuckling softly about it later.

He pulled on the underwear first before dropping the blanket from him to pull on the rest of the clothing he had stolen. It wasn't as cold as it was in the mountains, but he couldn't help but shiver from the cold air. The view of the lake didn't help either.

“Good enough, yet?” he asked after he was complete dressed once again, minus the coat, of course.

“Mmhmm,” Pyra replied simply.

When they turned, their eyes met, and Pyra held out the jacket while Phoenixan held the blanket, intending to drape it over her again first. Pyra smiled and allowed him to pull the blanket over her before he took the coat and slipped it over his body.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and Phoenixan took another glance outside. “It's a long road to nowhere, and I guess we better get started.”

“You know,” Pyra started shyly, “I think that there could be another end to this tunnel, leading outside.” Really, she was more certain that there was than anything. She just knew.

“Well, I guess we can't get into any worse shape, so why not find out?” He looked back down to this mangled left hand, and bent the pinky finger just slightly, wondering how bad the damage was. It snapped off.

He growled in frustration, just inside his head, rather than in front of Pyra, and tossed the metal pinky finger into the flames before kicking dirt, dust, and rocks over the fire to douse it out. Pyra could tell, he really was upset about it.

Making a failed attempt at covering up his woes, Phoenixan held out his right hand to Pyra, asking her with a smile, “You want to lead the way?” The glove never did survive either. Instead, he could feel her skin against his, which was a good feeling; however, he was almost ashamed of how his right hand appeared to be: covered with scars and now many recent, small cuts.

She took his hand and smiled back. “Let's just go together.” She rubbed his fingers slightly with her own to comfort him, just as he had managed to do with her before.

Phoenixan nodded, and side-by-side, they walked down the tunnel. There was a difference in his step this time. He moved forward a little more confidently. Not only was the Shadow Keeper gone, but he knew for certain that Pyra was always going to be there to protect him, just as he'd be there to protect her. He still somehow wished that it hadn't come to this. He didn't ever want to put her in danger.

Pyra still didn't feel that she had made up for the simple actions he had taken to rescue her. Maybe there was just something more to it now? She didn't think she knew; she just knew that she was going to watch over him to the best of her efforts, always.


Born of Shadow
Chapter 22: Woods of Light

“Ly? How will we find him again?” Globox asked as he steered the ship back across the waters toward the Fairy Council. The storm clouds were still there, but it had stopped raining for now. The ocean waves still churned, heaving the ship up and down. He could tell that they were getting closer to the shore; the waves were getting worse.

Murfy usually had a knack for finding Rayman or Globox when they were on the ground, but he didn't know how he'd get to him this time. There was no telling if Rayman was even alive right now.

At first, Murfy could understand why Rayman would have been so afraid; he was facing his own kind, after all. Now, he felt betrayed by Rayman's fear. It was like he was running away all this time, rather than standing up and fighting for his beliefs. Maybe others of his kind would have understood then. Now, it was too late.

Though, if what he said about his past was true, he spared all of their lives at that time, but with the way things were now, did he just prolong the inevitable? Maybe their fate now was worse than just going out with a flash.

Still, that depended upon if the story he mentioned was true. Did they really have any reason to doubt Rayman's word?

“I don't know,” Ly finally replied to Globox after a few long moments of silence. “When I close my eyes and try to see him, he's overshadowed, just as you were before.”

“So it's just him again,” Murfy grunted. “Next time I see him, I'll tear those eyes out of his head if I have to.”

Globox seemed shocked.

“It's about sometime someone crushed some heads around here. Enough failed attempts at hiding.”

“Murfy?” Ly began to ask. “Do you think that you can return to the crow's nest and look out for land again? We might be almost home.”

“Sure. Alright,” Murfy begrudgingly agreed.

Another one of Globox's children was waiting for Murfy when he arrived. There was a certain air of sadness about them as well. Usually, on trips like this, they played with each other, pretending to be on their very own adventures, playing as either heroes or villains, hoping to be as strong as the grown-ups they knew. Instead, right now, none of them felt like playing around as they mourned the loss of some of their fellow siblings and Rayman.

A black and white Globox child held a telescope, which he handed off to Murfy when he flew up to him. They were almost to land.

Murfy still felt betrayed. Why didn't Rayman just roll right into their bases and strike right where it hurt the most like he's done before!?

There was something else approaching the ship.

At first, it was the baby Globox that pointed it out to him as he hopped up and down whilst screaming, “Fish! Shark! Fish!”

Murfy brought the telescope to his eye, holding onto the wall of the crow's nest with his other hand as he hovered in the air. He homed in onto the small object dead ahead of them. It definitely wasn't any fish. It was something metal. He began to panic. He had to let Globox know before they crashed into it or even tapped against it.

“MINES!! GLOBOX! MINES!” He flew back down, still screaming. “MINES!!”

Ly rushed down below to fetch Uglette and the other children in case they were to make contact.

“Which way?! WHICH WAY!!?” Globox began to shout.

“Any way! IT DOESN'T MATTER!!”

The ship began to turn sharply to the left as Globox frantically spun the wheel, but it was too late.

The children rushed upwards to the deck, ushered along by both Ly and Uglette, when a loud explosion rocked the whole ship. Much of the crew and passengers were thrown aside, crashing to the floor.

A hole was torn into the underbelly of the ship, allowing water to rush in.

Ly, looking toward the exit from the stairway, witnessed the clouds seemingly shift before them as wood splinters flew into the air. Screams shrilled with panic all around her. The clouds shifted back into place. No, they shifted the other way and past where they once were. There was a frightening splash, and they were all thrown back upward.

She couldn't remember what happened after that. Ly only heard another crash as their ship hit the shoreline. Raising her head, everyone seemed to be fine. She rubbed her own head. No blood, but she felt achy and sore.

“Ly?!” It was Globox.

She couldn't see the children anywhere around her, so she assumed that they had gotten out of the way at least, completely safe or not.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I believe I'm fine,” she replied to him as she got back up on her feet. His face appeared beyond the doorway.

“We've touched the shore, but the ship is an absolute wreck,” he frowned.

“Just as long as everyone and everything else is unharmed.” She slowly climbed the rest of the way up the stairs without help.

Trees were all around them once again. The curling vines and bright green leaves of the trees swayed in the wind. It was raining again. Puddles of water had already formed within small depressions in the dirt and mud.

“I can't believe no one got hurt in that,” Murfy panted as he zoomed in to check on Ly.

She stood still, looking on toward the Fairy Council. The clouds bothered her for some reason. The rain almost sounded heavier than it really was as it came down once again. Wait, as she listened more carefully, she could hear it: drums. Loud steadily beating drums, beyond her range of sight somewhere, maybe even beyond the Glade, echoing in the cold, damp air.

“Drums,” she said, whispering to herself.

Globox shivered; he had a chill from both the eerie sounds and the weather.

By the time that Ly made her way down the net along the left side of the ship, she noticed that Uglette and her children were already waiting on solid ground with Murfy hovering beside them. Globox was quick to follow Ly down the net once she was a safe enough distance down.

“I think I know exactly where we are. It isn't much of a walk home now,” Murfy observed.

After a short pause, Ly replied, “Yes, I believe I know where we are too. It isn't far from the old fishing lake.”

To the west, through a system of caves and tunnels, there was a large lake that the teensies occasionally used for fishing every spring and summer. Due to the myth of a monster that resided down below, the teensies rarely dared to stray far from its shore, so none ever bothered to try ice fishing or boating upon it. Streams and small rivers flowed out from it to the ocean, and fish often returned to the lake to breed, so spring and summer were the best times to visit to hook a meal anyway.

Eventually, they left the ship behind and began to walk through the dirt, puddles, and mud to make the rest of the way to the Fairy Council. As they left, Ly turned for a moment and witnessed the hole that was torn into the right side of the ship. The ship wasn't ever going to sail again – not without being totally rebuilt.

The drums continued, even marching them on with a degree of determination.

Murfy still felt infuriated, hoping he'd be able to pay Phoenixan back somehow. Wait, there were two more sets of footsteps ahead of them? They stopped. Whoever it was, he or she must have heard them coming, catching up to them. Still hoping for some kind of payback, hoping it was somehow him, Murfy rushed forward ahead of the group. He zipped through every twist and turn on the trail, disappearing into the rain forest trees.

“Murfy! Wait!” Globox cried.

The drums seemed to be evermore threatening as time passed. Ly could swear that the drums were only a few miles away now.

She took off after Murfy. They couldn't afford another loss. Using both her hands and her feet, she ran as fast as she could. Ly was often described as taking the appearance of a cat-woman when she took this posture.

Incomprehensible yelling came from Murfy. If it was out of anger or fear, Ly couldn't tell straight away, but then, as she got closer, there he was: Phoenixan himself. Murfy got his wish, but at the same time, he didn't ever stand a chance.

He held one of Murfy's wings with his right hand, pinching it tightly between two fingers, but not enough to harm him. Phoenixan's left hand was mangled, his coat was torn, and just his overall appearance was much more disheveled than before.

He had someone with him this time: a girl with colorful hair and bright blue eyes. She clutched a blanket around her body while hiding behind him.

Besides his appearance, there was something else different about him that Ly could sense. It was as though he had a cloud hovering over his head before the whole time, and now, that storm cloud was gone.

“PUT ME DOWN SO I CAN TEAR THOSE EYES OUT OF YOUR HEAD!!” Murfy screamed, struggling to get away from Phoenixan's grip.

“You're not here to kill any of us, are you? Not anymore.”

“No,” Phoenixan replied to her in his own language. He had no choice but to speak only by word of mouth now. Without the Shadow Keeper there in his head, he didn't have that ability any longer.

“Don't tell me you're trying to REASON with him!” Murfy screamed, still attempting to fly away and pry apart the fingers of his captor. He couldn't hear what was being said, since Ly only projected her voice into Phoenixan's head this time.

“Just calm down. He'll let you go as long as you don't try to kill him again,” Ly reassured him. The key word was try. She highly doubted he even had a chance to lay a single tooth or fingernail on him yet.

“CALM DOWN?!”

“Murfy? Please?” Globox pleaded with him as he cautiously approached. Uglette was still far behind with their children.

Murfy quit struggling, then crossing his arms. He used one wing to hover, keeping himself from flopping upside-down.

“You should be able to let him go now.”

Phoenixan released his grip, and Murfy flew back only a few feet away. He snarled, trying to resist the urge to keep going.

“I can tell. You're here to fix what you've done. You've even been betrayed by them now, haven't you?”

Phoenixan closed his eyes for a few moments before responding to her. Yeah, thanks for bringing that up too, he thought. He hoped she wouldn't hear all of his thoughts. “I can't promise anything,” he said again in Rintu's language.

Ly smiled. “If the Fairy Council is still intact, we'll at least show you some hospitality in return.”

“I think we'll accept that much.” Phoenixan looked to Pyra and took her hand once more. He could only hope that there weren't anymore on a quest for vengeance, though, he couldn't exactly blame them, considering he already tried the same thing.

“Ask if he knows where they took Rayman,” Globox broke in.

Phoenixan still couldn't understand their dialect. He wondered if Pyra understood at all. She already knew his own language when they met, after all.

“Do you know where they took Rayman?” Ly then asked him.

“They took him? No, I don't know what plans there were for him besides my own..,” Phoenixan voice began to drift. What did Alucian have in mind for Rayman besides killing him? That was unless he was still doing favors for the Lady Knaaren.

“Let's not let ourselves be bothered with that now then.” Ly shook her head, looking to Globox, showing him that Phoenixan didn't even know. “Let's go home.”

[Holy Crap]

Good stuff, although I'm struggling to remember anything.

[Phoenixan]

I will work on getting a preview image in later on.

Born of Shadow
Chapter 23: Besieged Council

Lines of knaaren and Rintu's soldiers left the main legion, splitting off to surround and cover the outer perimeter of the Fairy Council, as the rest, led by Alucian and Lady Knaaren, marched into the eastern peninsula. The beat of drums still kept them all going, moving in perfect harmony.

Trailing behind was an assembly of construction workers and engineers, piecing together Alucian's railroad to bring troops and supplies in and out from the Dark Tower in the near future. At first, their own work steamrolled unobstructed through the deserts, the mountains, and the rain forests, but as soon as they reached the land steeped with magical energy, their progress slowed to a crawl.

Already, some of the instruments of Alucian's own brigade ceased to work.

The elite squadron was forced to regress back to their old ways of carrying swords and other less-advanced weaponry, though their firearms were still leaps and bounds ahead of what the hoodlums or inhabitants of the Swamplands even had now. They also had to abandon their full-bodied protective suits in place of lighter plate armor. Over the armor, they shielded their faces and most of their skin with flowing black, green, and brown cloth, hiding their identities. They still had to practice this due to their own extremist religious beliefs.

Alucian had already planned for this for the most part. The knaaren's own custom weaponry was fully functional, and besides the trade-offs he had to make on the way, so were his own firearms. The computerized gauges and sensors aboard the trucks, tanks, and other land vehicles had died, but the old-fashioned spring-powered fuel and speed meters were still in working order, and even more importantly, the windshield wipers still worked as well.

Mines were laid in the ocean waters surrounding the Fairy Council and the Dark Tower, insuring that no one would escape nor enter by neither sea nor land. It was unknown if the Fairy Council would have any allies that would back them up, but Alucian didn't want to leave it to chance. So much wasn't clearly known about the Fairy Council's inner workings, or how they defended themselves or their word, but if there was a time for the general and Rintu to find out, it was now.

Secretly, Alucian enjoyed gazing upon all the different plants and various small animals that roamed the landscape. He could see that some of his own troops did the same, and he really didn't mind.

So many of the trees and bushes had vines or branches that followed swirling or twirling patterns as they extended out from their bases. The pedals of each and every different colored flower seemed to glow as a flow of magic was carried up from their roots.

Even the very soil he trod upon seemed to be different. Alucian could feel it in through is boots. He couldn't describe what was so different about it, but he could just feel it. It wasn't just the fact that it was a wetter climate here either. It was just something else beyond him.

The Lady Knaaren didn't seem as amused as he or any of the soldiers on either Rintu's or the knaaren's side. It was either that, or she was hiding it as he was.

“How far is it from here?” she asked Alucian. Actually, she wasn't amused or filled with wonder at all. She just wanted to know when she was going to be able to wrap her claws around Rayman.

“Not far now,” Alucian answered back. “The tower is perhaps one of the tallest buildings in the world. When we pass over this hill, you won't miss it.”

“I still don't understand what use Rayman has to us. Why keep him in the back of a truck this whole way? I still have a lot I'd like to do to him.”

“Look at it this way, if you need to,” Alucian began, taking in a cool breath, “Wouldn't it be more fun to torture him when he's fully aware of what's happening to him?”

A smile formed on the knaaren female's face. “Yes. Yes, it would.”

“There you are then.”

Zadian watched them both from the leading truck in the convoy of vehicles and troops. Alucian and Lady Knaaren were ahead of them, taking every step of the way. Alucian had already assured him that they wouldn't go this far themselves, and that they weren't going as low as the Swamplands did, but he already knew that they had gone that far.

Rayman wasn't exactly in a fully healthy condition when he was loaded into the back of this very truck before they left the desert. He was sure that a couple of the soldiers got at least a little overzealous with him, and Alucian didn't bother to take any action over it.

It was already too late to stop what has been done.

He watched uneasily as the speedometer and fuel gauge's needles jumped slightly up and down as they rolled over the bumpy dirt and stone path. When he looked ahead, the tower was just peaking up over the hill as they started their way back downward.

He and the driver sitting next to him both gasped.

The top-most spires were colored red and purple, and as it grew downward, the black granite stonework shifted into ever wider levels, each divided by a row of spikes or demon statues. Lines of color continued between each level on the surface, forming further patterns. It just kept growing from the sky downward until it's base was securely hidden by the mountain range before them. Despite being over a thousand years old, it was still in marvelous shape. Something mystical kept it alive, and it obviously shouldn't ever be touched again, but yet here they were.

It was far too late to stop Alucian's war machine, and he knew that no one back home would object to this. If he went home now, perhaps he'd just be another disappearance like Phoenixan? He was told that he had gone home, but that somehow didn't seem likely at all. He was a strange one, but probably not that eccentric.

If he suddenly said that they had gone too far, would anyone listen? He made a mistake by following them here. The soldiers were loyal to Alucian, as were the other council members and the people of Rintu. He treated everyone well, and with respect greater than any Mr. Dark gave before the revolution. To anyone else, going “too far” would just be justified later with whatever great end-means Alucian had planned.

That dark, looming tower was something both wondrous and clearly menacing. Zadian knew that if he went against Alucian now, he'd go the way that Phoenixan did. He'd just be a small footnote below Alucian's great history, as would the destruction of the Fairy Council, or even the extinction of the teensies or the fairies if he chose to kill them all off. Alucian didn't have to ever follow any law; he became the law.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Phoenixan and Pyra were led along the side of a river. Phoenixan looked down, treading carefully upon the rocks and muddy banks. It was a strange, but magical place. Purple and green glowing mushrooms, giant ones, sprouted from the center of the river and along the banks.

Murfy took this exact path only once before: when he took Rayman into the council as they escaped from the hoodlums. There were a lot of alternate routes and tunnels along this route. They were easy to get lost in if you didn't know where you were going. If it wasn't for Ly or Globox, he would probably take Phoenixan somewhere they couldn't ever be found.

Distant yells echoed between the rocks, carried over by the moist, cold air. The yells came out in the desert language once again.

They were moving in to surround the council.

As they continued further down the river, Phoenixan could faintly hear bells. It didn't sound like anything Rintu used. It wasn't anything like the drums in the distance. It wasn't even like the common bells or alarms used in the city. It sounded clearer, and almost soothing to listen to.

“At least we know the Council is indeed still intact,” Ly commented, also listening to the sound of the bells. “I worked with Grand Minimus to bring forward some kind of safety and protection measures for the future. Let's hope they actually work, and that no one gets captured this time,” she explained to Phoenixan and Pyra.

Murfy was quick to break in. “Our enemies always seem to have a certain OBSESSION for placing people in cages don't they!?”

When Phoenixan looked to Ly, seeming confused, she simply explained to him, “Just Murfy being the wisecracker that he always is.”

Globox, being with Murfy in front, then took a turn and slid down one of the muddy tunnels to their right. Murfy then flew down after him.

“This is the way. Be careful,” Ly assured Phoenixan, gesturing toward the hole.

“We have to go down there?” They were the first words she had spoken since they encountered Rayman's parade of friends.

“Guess so,” Phoenixan replied, grabbing her hand and taking a flying leap down. With a squeal, she went right down with him.

They slid down the mud, accelerating to a frightening speed, even going in loops around the circular tunnel. The end almost came right out of nowhere, first appearing as a small dot of light in the distance. Suddenly, the open mouth at the other side spat them out, sending them crashing into the grassy field.

“Pain..,” Phoenixan whimpered after he and Pyra found themselves crumpled onto the ground.

Globox ran toward them, tugging on his and Pyra's hands. “Quick! Out of the-”

His children began to fly out from the same hole, squealing not out of fear, but delight. All of them came careening out, landing on top of Phoenixan, Pyra, and Globox. They were then followed by Uglette, who wasn't quite as graceful in landing as Phoenixan or Pyra before her.

“More pain..,” Phoenixan grunted as he struggled to get himself and Pyra out from the pile, still grasping her hand. Was she still unhurt?

Ly came down as well, but instead of adding to the pile of followers, she controlled her movement, and landed on both feet beside them.

After aiding Phoenixan in pulling Pyra out of the mess, and after helping Uglette off of everyone else, Pyra checked her wings.

“Are you hurt?” Phoenixan asked. His vision rocked back and forth, and he honestly couldn't tell if he was still moving or not. The loop they took across the ceiling did a lot to mess up his balance.

“Well, yes and no,” she grunted. Every part of her ached now, since being crushed by a giant frog plus all her children.

Ly then apologized, “We will check you over for any broken bones or injury if you wish. Sorry that had to happen.”

“Is Rayman coming back soon? And who might these travelers be?” a calm, older-sounding-male voice said, surprising the group. He wore a crown upon his blue-skinned and hairless head. Accompanying him this time was a female ray. “More that need help? Not that we have that much to offer.”

Murfy then replied by saying, “Well, he definitely needs help, but I don't think you're qualified as a psychologist, uh, Highness.”

Phoenixan first looked to the small blue creature, and then the female ray. He thought Rayman was the first and only one to be taken in by the Counsil.

“This is Grand Minimus, king of the teensies and the Fairy Council,” Ly said, introducing he and Pyra to the teensie, but not even mentioning the ray just yet.

Pyra took a bow to him out of respect, since she feared being punished for not doing such a thing. Phoenixan then nodded his head as if to make a small bow, but he had to avoid falling over on the tipsy world around him.

“And she is Lilly, his adviser,” Ly continued.

Grand Minimus took a slight gaze upward to the sky as the bells rung once again. This time, they sounded like something coming from glass or crystal. “We'll get you inside, out of the rain, and to take shelter from our invaders.”

“As for Rayman, I'm afraid there's troubling news,” Ly admitted to the king.

“Tell me once we get inside. There's too much going on out here to speak safely about anything,” The teensie king then requested. He took in a deep breath and began to hobble toward one of the doors embedded into the trees.

All of the usual activity of the Fairy Council was hidden as well. Few of the red lums were visible, and the blue glows of flying smaller fairies had all but disappeared. It was all underground now, taking shelter from the terrifying outside world, and the shadow of the now-looming Dark Tower, that was before, seemingly so far away and untouchable.

[Phoenixan]

Again, because the scanner is kind of far away from me, and I happen to be kind of lazy, I don't have a picture to immediately show.

Born of Shadow
Chapter 24: Take-Over

When Alucian, Lady Knaaren, and their convoy arrived, they were waiting. Three men in white robes hiding any of their individual features stood before the giant black iron gates set into the rocky hillsides, where the trail had bottlenecked.

Alucian called a halt to the convoy, stopping them almost a full one-hundred feet from the gates set into the rocky hillsides beside the road.

Lady Knaaren grinned with her sharp, jagged teeth. “I can crush them all easily.” She then took a step forward.

Alucian raised his hand to her, asking her to stop. “I'll handle this. There's more waiting; there always is. Wait here.”

“I can still take them,” she argued.

“Just wait. Don't you even dare question me right now,” Alucian spoke back to her.

She wanted to kill him at this point. Her eyes filled with rage as they imagined herself lunging forward, grabbing him, and tearing him to pieces. She then remembered that she still needed him if the Shadow Keeper, their father, were to be freed at all. After this is all over, then I'll kill you.

“Why is it that you come here on this day?” one of the robed men asked. He seemed to be the most prevalent of them, seen with a large black open eye symbol on the front of his robes. Alucian knew from the stories and legends that it was the symbol representing light. “Why do you seek the Dark Tower?”

Lady Knaaren began to shout to him, standing behind Alucian as he slowly walked toward the men. “Our father will re-”

“A new order is what we seek,” Alucian said, interrupting Lady Knaaren's outburst.

She growled again in frustration and ever-growing anger.

“A new, more organized, world. No more waiting for heroes or destiny. We are the nation, the people, that choses our own destiny and writes our own history. We do not wait; we create. That is why we are here.” Alucian stopped, standing in the middle between the men in white robes and his own army.

“You do realize still what you are doing? How wrong it may be?” a man standing beside their leader said. Unlike the others with their swords, he was armed with a bow. He took an arrow from his quiver.

“Right and wrong is only determined by one's culture. We see our own rights and wrongs from our experiences. I feel that this is the right thing from my own experiences.” Alucian knelled down for a moment and picked up a small rock from the road.

“What do you know about experience!?” the man with the bow cried out. He took the arrow to his bow and launched it toward the ray. Clearly, this one was just as short-fused as Lady Knaaren was.

With quick reflexes and equally deadly accuracy, Alucian dropped the stone from his hand and drew his desert eagle, shooting the arrow down from the air, splintering it apart.

Their leader then struck the bowman across the face. He didn't say a word, but clearly, he did do wrong.

Alucian almost couldn't help but laugh, but instead, he stood his ground. “I have more experience than you might know, unless you've been observing me as much as Phoenixan.” He gave them a little smirk.

Their leader appeared stunned, realizing that they weren't as well-hidden as they had previously thought. This man must have noticed them all this time, through all of their own observations. They must have been too busy keeping track of one man this whole time.

“You've only given me a second thought, I see,” Alucian then continued. “Why do you think I sent him so far away from me so many times? Why I sent him on his own to the desert to find the stone? You thought that you had him. You knew that he was both a guardian and a man picked out by 'the dark hand.' You just didn't know why I was in the mix, other than that I was his brother in arms. And you thought that I was gathering the rest of the stones without him, just because of what he wanted, and today, you learn, that that wasn't the reason after all.”

Alucian picked up the very same stone again from the ground with his left hand, playing with it, shifting it between his fingers as he continued speaking to him. “He was my friend, but I had no choice but to use him as a decoy like I did to draw you away. I saw you there, standing upon my rooftops and hiding in my bushes. Don't you dare think that I'm that blind.”

The three men before them seemed frozen now. Alucian secretly enjoyed it. It was about time he confronted them. They were the guardians appointed by the light elemental, and the job was passed down through the generations, well after she was gone. They were waiting for her return, and in the meantime, attempted to find every one of the elementals as they returned. It was why they followed Phoenixan around this whole time, because he made his powers so obvious. He was too much of an open book to everyone, and it was why he had to go.

Alucian's own powers on the other hand...

“No one is going to be allowed to progress anywhere until the Shadow Keeper is truly done,” he continued.

He threw the small stone toward the gates. Then, raising his right hand, and the earth shook around them. The hillsides were turned upside-down, piece by piece. The sounds of the crashing rocks and rising dirt masked the screams that came from the men hidden among the hills, waiting to attack by their leader's signal.

Lady Knaaren, her fellow knaaren, Zadian, and each of the soldiers following were equally stunned. Whispers were passed down through the ranks. Was Alucian some sort of god? Why didn't he use this kind of power before when he could have all this time? Magic was still seen as evil in Rintu, as it's always been, but this wasn't evil to them now. This was almost a blessing. He was protecting them, saving them from any sort of attack that could have occurred.

Zadian's mouth gaped open as he watched the cataclysm from his own front-row seat.

Alucian then shot the two men standing beside the leader as he walked forward. He knew it was a cowardly move, but they had to keep moving if they were to get anywhere with this.

Their leader then drew his sword, hoping to fend off the earth elemental. Alucian responded by drawing his two-pronged stabbing weapon with his left.

When the sword's strike came, he blocked it and pushed the blade away to the side, then placing his desert eagle back into his holster and grabbing the robed man by the throat. Pushing the sword took an amazing amount of muscle to do. His neck was surprisingly thin for how strong he was. He wondered what kind of creature he was, but he wasn't going to bother taking his mask off just to fulfill his curiosity.

He asked as he tightened his grip, “Are you coming with us, or do you die here?” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Please. Even more of your men don't have to die in vain.”

The man still struggled with his sword. “This wasn't your job. Wh-Why?” his voice strained to ask. “Y-you weren't meant to do this. Y-you agreed to keep him l-locked away no matter what. Y-you took a vow. Y-you would-wouldn't be here now otherwise.”

Alucian did find those memories within him many years ago, back when he was young, and he kept it all silent to Phoenixan. He kept it silent to almost everyone, for that matter.

“It was a curse,” Alucian responded back to him. He still strained against the man to keep his sword at bay while he held the man's throat. He didn't want to strangle him to death – not just yet. Still, his voice didn't show any struggle. “Now it's your turn to decide. Come with us, or stay behind.”

“I-I think you know!” the man shifted the sword slightly, trying to slide out from the grip of Alucian's own weapon, but it didn't work.

“I'm so sorry,” Alucian whispered in a more compassionate tone. It was hard to tell if he was now using emotion in a serious manner or if he was just mocking the man now.

He snapped the man's neck with his hand, and the man went instantly limp. He then let the robed man's body down easy onto the ground, afterwards placing his sword on top of his body.

“Took you long enough,” Lady Knaaren grumbled to him. “What was that little heart-to-heart all about?”

“You would have just had them torn limb from limb, one at a time,” Alucian retorted back to her. “Of course your way is cleaner and quicker. Get someone to open the gates for us now, will you?”

Lady Knaaren grunted in frustration, and then called upon two of her own soldiers. “Open the gates!”

With a simultaneous rawr, they ran forward and broke through the gates, pushing their rusted and locked hinges open with their raw muscle.

Alucian only made this small skirmish look easy. When it came to individual targets, fighting was made more difficult with his elemental powers, but it was made up for with his rifle. Things were going to get harder in closer quarters, when they manage to break in through the tower's walls.

The convoy continued onward with Lady Knaaren and Alucian leading them on. He could hear a few of the soldiers laughing as they passed by the three dead men they left in their wake.

Shaking his head, Alucian thought of delivering some kind of punishment to his own for such poor manners. What troubled him more is that the knaaren turned around and did the same. Lady Knaaren definitely wasn't going to be the sort to show any kind of disapproval. She was just one of them.

He hoped that if any ties between Rintu and the knaaren continued that something would change, or else Rintu could degrade into a society of their own aggressive and uncaring standards.

The hillsides receded into a grassy valley. A giant black rock wall was wrapped around the base of the tower, complete with small holes in its sides to allow soldiers to shoot bows or guns through it at any advancing force. Large crossbows decorated the smaller towers built into the walls at regular one-hundred feet intervals.

Viewing the wall through a pair of binoculars as he continued to ride along, Zadian could clearly see men waiting for them in the windows within the wall. Some of them were lit by candles or small bioluminescent plants or animals kept in jars or glass spheres.

Alucian called a halt to the convoy once again, then walking back to the front vehicle to speak with the driver as the trucks stopped one-by-one. He delivered his orders. After he was through, and Lady Knaaren and himself had moved out of the way, the convoy took a turn to the left and began to roll across the valley, eventually stopping and forming their own make-shift wall.

The knaaren stepped forward, before the wall of stopped vehicles, ready to storm the tower with so much as a drop of a hat.

The rays hopped out of the vehicles with some taking cover while others, with their sniper rifles, crouched down between each truck, taking aim at whatever targets they could spot through their scopes.

Zadian sat down in the grass beside the front-left wheel of the front vehicle. He wondered which side was going to make their first move this time.

Trumpets sounded from within the tower, somewhere.

Alucian had his own sniper rifle ready.

Screams followed by a thousand small clicks echoed out from within the walls. Thousands of bolts, including several larger ones, collided with the sides of the vehicles and the knaaren. The knaaren held up the metal shields in response, and with the ones who's reactions were too late, the bolts bounced off from their hard skin and natural electric shielding, generated by their bodies. A very few amount did stick, but none caused any real injury.

Alucian pointed at the face of a robed man controlling one of the mounted crossbows, closest to his view. He had no digital scope to depend on this time. This time, he had a simple scope only made from a tube and multiple glass disks. Right now, it was enough for him.

He felt his finger along the curved trigger and squeezed. The rifle kicked up only slightly as there was a loud boom. The person manning the giant crossbow fell.

Hundreds of gunshots followed – some of which missed while others made their marks.

Lady Knaaren rawred again as she led her troops forward. Some of the rays followed behind, depending upon the cover from their knaaren comrades and their own snipers to keep them alive.

A few of the rays fell. Alucian grimaced inside at the fact.

The knaaren applied all of their strength to the front doors, and they broke open as though nothing were keeping them closed. The iron bar locking them shut from the outside world snapped apart, sliding into the walls, along the granite floor.

Clearly, something else kept them locked thousands of years before, and the hooks for the bar were only added on later by the robed men. It was most-likely like Mr. Dark's own sanctuary in Rintu, all those years ago, before the revolt, held shut not only by a lock, but also with magic.

Many surprised men, all dressed in their white robes, were on the other side of the doors. Most had swords. A few carried crossbows or longbows.

Lady Knaaren went berserk, using her own staff to burn and crush. She used her claws to slash others. Many of the knaaren under her command began to do the same, slashing with their swords and clawing others who got even closer.

Alucian pulled aside five men to follow him while the other rays were left to check other areas for enemies unwilling to fight in the open.

He led his now small group up a stairway to the inside of one of the front walls. They slowly made their way upwards. Alucian once again had his desert eagle and forked weapon at the ready. They checked every corner and began to clean out their defenses.

Meanwhile, metal met with metal outside in the courtyard. Lady Knaaren laughed and growled in sheer enjoyment as they slashed through robed man after robed man. She throughly enjoyed herself, as did the other knaaren.

Alucian unloaded the large rounded slugs into man after man, before they could even react. Some of their crossbows did fire, but it was never in time to make a difference.

His group fired their small automatic weapons, which were so small in caliber they weren't really considered full rifles.

There were so many. Alucian ran out of ammunition quickly, resorting to dropping back behind his team members to reload. At this rate, a perfect cleaning of this place could take all night, but they would have reason to celebrate by morning.

As he fought, he wondered if they were all equally-devoted men, just serving as cannon fodder or prey to the knaaren, or if a few would hope to survive by surrendering. He could only hope that the knaaren would be so willing to accept prisoners rather than killing for the sheer sport of it. He highly doubted that they would.

“Be sure to get more men where necessary to take prisoners before the knaaren get to them,” Alucian added to one of his men, sending him back downstairs to alert the others.

Bodies fell repeatedly. It was practically a killing spree on Lady Knaaren's and Alucian's part.

When Alucian had finally reached the top of the walls, he could see men in white falling off the edges into the field outside or the courtyard inside. Whether they were pushed, or they willingly chose to fall, that was debatable.

In a few more hours time, the Dark Tower no longer had any standing defense to speak of. Only a few were left, hiding, waiting to surrender or valiantly fight alone.

By the time the night was over, the tower was under Rintu's and the knaaren's control.

By the morning, Rayman was carried inside, along with the rest of the ray's and the knaaren's cargo.

In the next few days, they would all begin to take the steps to summon the Shadow Keeper. The Fairy Council was still surrounded, held in a noose, ready to be destroyed.

[Holy Crap]

All is going well for the good guys.

[Phoenixan]

I deleted this fanfic from my deviantArt account, because I've been in the process of going through the earlier chapters as I've been wrapping this up. I'm doing this off and on as I have to work on my game as well, but expect this to be wrapped up by the end of January 2010. I'm not updating this topic anymore with story chapters, but if you wish, you can ask me any questions about what I'm doing. I know I've rewritten this once before, but hey, this is all being written for fun, right?